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HMS Ajax (22)

HMS Ajax was a Leander class light cruiser which served with the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom during World War II. She was made famous for her part in the Battle of the River Plate, the Battle of Crete, the Battle of Malta and as a supply escort in the Battle of Tobruk.

Before the War

Built at Vickers shipyard, Barrow-in-Furness, England, she was laid down on 7 February 1933, launched on 1 March 1934, and completed on 12 April 1935. Ajax served on the America and West Indies Station from completion, then joined the South American Division on the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939. There she sank the German merchant Olinda and intercepted the German merchant Carl Fritzen and the passenger ship Ussukuma. Both ships scuttled themselves to avoid capture.

The Battle of the River Plate

She was the flagship of Commodore Henry Harwood's Force G during the hunt for the Admiral Graf Spee. Ajax was hit seven times by the Germans but inflicted more damage on the Graf Spee during the Battle of the River Plate on 13 December 1939. Ajax was also in Chile and assisted in relief work after an earthquake in Concepcion, and many years later surviving members of HMS Ajax were awarded medals from the Chilean Government for valued assistance.

Mediterranean, Crete and North Africa

Under repair until July 1940, she then moved to the Mediterranean. On 11 October/12 October 1940 she engaged Italian forces off Cape Passero, sinking the Spica class torpedo boats Airone and Ariel, and badly damaging the Italian destroyer Artigliere, which was later sunk by HMS York. According to Seaman Harry Mansfield, the Ajax intercepted retreating German and Italian warships which were cruising towards Crete and fired a variety of small arms and large guns completely destroying the enemy. The Ajax then took part in the Battle of Taranto, a night operation which was held under by RDF (radio detection finder). Ajax was one of the escort vessels of that highly successful operation, the first all-air attack by a naval force in history. Ajax participated in the Battle of Cape Matapan and was hit by bombs from Ju 87's on 21 May. She evacuated many troops from Crete up until 29 May 1941.

She then covered Syrian operations in June, and joined Force K at Malta in November 1941, but was withdrawn in February 1942.

D-Day and Post war

She was refitted in England from May to October 1942, then returned to the Mediterranean where she was again damaged by bombs. After repairs in New York between March and October 1943, Ajax went back to the Mediterranean. As part of Force K, she bombarded Gold Beach during the D-Day invasion, and later supported the landings in southern France. Ajax operated in the Aegean during the reoccupation of Athens and the communist uprising in Greece.

After the war, the Ajax was involved in the Exodus incident, where she formed part of the Royal Navy task force trailing the illegal immigrant ship.

Ajax remembered

She was decommissioned in February 1948. She was initially intended to be sold to the Indian Navy but this deal did not materialize because of Winston Churchill's apparent disapproval of the sale and he felt that such an important vessel would be better off broken up to preserve her history. She duly arrived at Newport for breaking up on 18 November 1949.

The town of Ajax, in Ontario, Canada, was named after the cruiser following
the Battle of the River Plate. The town has streets named after members of the ship's company. For example, Harwood Avenue is the town's main north-south street.

In addition, many street signs in the town bear the silhouette of the ship, and the ship's anchor rests in front of the local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion.

The ship's bell is currently located at Summerhill Mansion, Kingswood School, Bath, England.

References

HMS Ajax at Uboat.net